NOTEBOOK: Cold Shooting Dooms Men's Basketball Against Yale

In basketball, box scores usually don’t tell the whole story. But when one team’s free throw percentage is less than the opposing squad’s three-point percentage, you may be able to draw a few conclusions.

That was the case on Saturday night, as the Harvard men’s basketball team (18-4, 5-1 Ivy) shot 56 percent from the charity stripe—14-of-25—while Yale (11-9, 5-1) connected from deep at a 60 percent clip.

With the game on the line and the clock running down, Harvard’s missed attempts—from the stripe and downtown—doomed the squad to its first home loss in over a year, falling to the Bulldogs, 74-67.

“We had our chances,” Crimson coach Tommy Amaker said. “I’m surprised the score is what it is. I told the kids at the half we are lucky to be down four the way they are shooting [and] given what we did…. It’s hard for me to even look at [the statistics].”

Nearly everyone in Crimson struggled to make ends meet at the free-throw line—each Harvard player who went to the stripe missed at least one shot.

Ultimately, these missed attempts dug the Crimson too big of a hole, leaving it unable to capitalize on potential runs or Yale mistakes.

With just over two minutes to play, co-captain Brandyn Curry caught the ball in the right corner. The guard pump-faked, dribbled baseline, and found junior Wesley Saunders near the top of the key. Saunders faked a pass to his right and then fired a pass to senior Kyle Casey who was wide open for the dunk.

The play cut the Bulldog lead to six.

From that point forward, however, Harvard missed three three-point attempts, a free throw, and a layup, capping off a half in which it shot just 15.4 percent from deep and 37.5 percent from the field overall.

While the Crimson missed, Yale amassed—the visiting team notched its best performance from the charity stripe of the season, going 24-of-29, and connected on 60 percent of its three-pointers for the third time this year.

“We were challenged offensively,” Amaker said. “I’m thinking we’re a bit tired…. I don’t think we [had] a right to win and yet we were within a couple shots of making it close.”

STEALING THE LIMELIGHT

With shots not falling on the offensive end, Harvard was forced to step up the intensity on the defensive side. While the Bulldogs were efficient from the floor, shooting 51.2 percent on the night, it was getting those quality shots that troubled the Elis.

For the game, the visitors committed 19 turnovers, their most in a single game all season, while it was the sixth time this year that Yale tallied at least 15 mistakes. Harvard, on the other hand, turned the ball over only nine times, a number that would tie the Bulldog’s second-lowest total of the 2013-2014 campaign.

In fact, the only statistics in which Harvard topped Yale on Saturday night were defense-related. The Crimson collected more blocks and steals—and fewer turnovers—than its New Haven counterpart, enabling it to keep the game within reach.

The scores that resulted from two of these Bulldogs turnovers provoked some of the loudest ovations of the contest.

With 7:08 left in the game, a turnover from Bulldog Jack Montague fueled a coast-to-coast Curry fastbreak, which cut Harvard’s deficit to four for the first time since intermission.

The crowd at Lavietes Pavilion was on its feet, and Yale was on its heels.

Five minutes later, after the Eli lead was extended once more, sophomore Siyani Chambers did his best Curry impression. The point guard stole the ball from Javier Duren and tore down the floor, converting the layup seconds later.

The Yale lead was back down to six.

However, cold shooting the rest of the way would prohibit Harvard from coming much closer.

“It didn’t seem like [Yale had 19 turnovers,]” Amaker said. “I am pleased with [forcing those] turnovers because I thought we played with great effort. We gave great energy and effort defensively, and we did that all weekend.”

NO SOPHOMORE SLUMP IN SIGHT

In the 2012-2013 campaign, Chambers beat out Yale’s Justin Sears for Ivy League Rookie of the Year. While Chambers garnered a First Team All-Ivy selection, Sears got no such accolade. Nor was he placed on the conference’s Second Team. Or Third.

But one season later, Sears has come into his own. The 6’8” big man shot 6-of-11 in Saturday’s contest and connected on 9-of-10 free throws en route to a 21-point, game-leading performance. The sophomore notched almost as many defensive rebounds—eight—as the entire Crimson squad—13.

Sears’ double-double and command in the paint led Amaker to label him as a “monster” inside.

Sears played in only one of last season’s Harvard-Yale matchups, a game in which he shot efficiently, but failed to record a single rebound in 25 minutes, tallying three fouls and two turnovers instead.

Only 12 months later, Sears is fourth in the Ancient Eight in boards per game and tied for second in total rebounds.

“He is an outstanding player,” Curry said. “We knew going in that he was going to be a force in there. It was in our game plan to help out when he got the ball around the basket and dig in inside. He is a good player and he played really well.”

—Staff writer Juliet Spies-Gans can be reached at juliet.spies-gans@thecrimson.com.